Thursday, December 6
Radio host Heather Taylor moderates a panel of three local food-world figures, great storytellers all. Appearing will be Colorado Kitchen’s Gillian Clark, whose single-mom memoir, Out of the Frying Pan, came out in October; Citronelle and Central chef Michel Richard, whose big, glossy cookbook, Happy in the Kitchen, teaches home cooks how to make such dishes as his famous “faux gras”; and Wall Street Journal spirits expert Eric Felton, who explores cocktail culture in How’s Your Drink?.
Olsson’s, 418 Seventh St., NW; 202-638-7610; olssons.com. 7 pm. Free.
Friday, December 7
Want a few life lessons with your knife skills? Check out How to Cook Your Life, Doris Dörrie’s documentary about California Zen master and cookbook author Edward Espe Brown, which kicks off a weeklong run at Landmark’s E Street Cinema.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 Seventh St., NW; 202-452-7672; landmarktheatres.com. Check theater listings for showtimes. $6.75 to $9.50.
Sunday, December 9
Mark McWilliams, an English professor at the US Naval Academy, is also a scholar of culinary lore. This afternoon, he gives a talk entitled “From Raw Beef Without Salt to Freedom Fries: Haute Cuisine, the White House, and Presidential Politics.” They didn’t always serve chicken-fried steak fingers at the White House.
Bethesda/Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (Meeting Room A), 4805 Edgemoor La., Bethesda. Call Claudia Kousoulas at 301-320-6979 for more information. 2:30 to 4:30 pm. Free.
Through Sunday, December 9
Giving the gift of wine for the holidays? Or just anticipating that you’ll need a whole lot of booze in order to destress? If you buy 12 bottles or more at Whole Foods (DC and Northern Virginia locations) during its Holiday Wine Sale, you’ll get 20 percent off the entire bill.
Click here for store locations and information.
Monday, December 10
In ex-waitress Phoebe Damrosch’s new roman à clef, Service Included, she dishes about her time working the tables at Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant in Manhattan. Tonight at her reading, hear about everything from draconian grooming rules to vomiting customers.
Olsson’s, 418 Seventh St., NW; 202-638-7610; olssons.com. 7 pm. Free.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
